Little Donkey, Boston

On my recent trip to Boston, in addition to some large group dining, I had a chance to plan a meal for just myself and one other guest.  I immediately picked Little Donkey, a "Global Tapas" restaurant located in Central Square, just a short walk from our office.

I picked Little Donkey for a couple reasons, besides just the location.  The entire menu sounded fascinating, but there were two items that I really, really, really wanted to try (spoiler: epic Parker House rolls, and a cookie dough dessert served on a beater!).  I had it on my list intending to go with a larger group, since the tapas style and cocktail focus lend themselves to groups, but I wasn't ever able to get a booking for my larger group, so, when I had the chance to go with just one person, I took it.

Little Donkey is a pretty interesting concept, open basically all day, for dinner nightly, lunch during the week, and brunch on the weekends.  They even serve until midnight.  It is owned by Chefs Ken Oringer and Jamie Bissonnette, James Beard winning chefs who also ran Clio, my absolute favorite Boston restaurant that I even declared my "Meal of the Year" in 2014.  I was eager to try another one of their establishments, even though the concept is radically different from the upscale Clio I had visited before.  The chefs describe it as a place where they can "cook whatever the hell they want to cook any time they want to cook it".  They are having fun here, and, well, it shows.

(Part of) Our Feast.

Little Donkey was a fun experience, with many unique offerings, but I don't think I'm likely to return, as it didn't wow me overall.  The food was well executed, the service great, but the overall atmosphere wasn't really for me, and I just wished it was a bit better than it was.  That said, there is something to be said for having the experience of sitting in public, sipping from a flask, and eating cookie dough from a beater.  Yes, those things happened.  Keep reading.

I am glad I visited.

Setting

Donkey Sign.

Little Donkey is located in Central Square, on a street full of restaurants.  While I didn't see a sign that actually said "Little Donkey", it wasn't exactly hard to find, as, well, there was sign with a big donkey head on it.

Interior.

Inside is open.  Entirely open.  The front has an active bar with drop in seating, the back side has the open kitchen.  The rest of the space is assorted tables.  The floor is hard wood planks, the tables are hard wood, and the walls are concrete.  Even the ceiling seemed to be a hard surface.

You might guess where this is going.  It was loud.  Really loud.

The bar was noisy, the kitchen was noisy, and the music, trendy tunes from the 90s, was blaring.

My guest and I had an early seating, 6pm, and even then, it quickly became impossible to hear each other, when seated at a small table for two.  I'm not sure how a party larger than two could possibly interact with each other.

Table.

We were seated at a small table along one wall, with a bench on one side, chair on the other.  Tables were pre-set with share plates (since everything is tapas style), a regular fork and knife, and a small fork (for the signature raw bar).

Tables were very close together, and given the noise level, we could hear everything our neighbors were saying (well, as clearly as we could hear anything).  This also made it very easy to check out other dishes, as they were just a few inches away.

Service is done a bit differently at Little Donkey.  There was one dedicated water and bus boy for the floor, a dedicated server per table, and a slew of runners who brought out dishes as soon as they were ready.  This model was highly effective, as we were never without water, our food was all delivered hot and fresh, and our server had time to chat about the menu without worried about someone else's food getting cold in the pass.

Service was very good overall, and each runner who brought out a dish described it as they set it down, and paused a moment to make sure we had no questions.  As they knew about my allergy, each and every one told me, with every dish they brought out, that it was "watermelon free", or "allergy safe", or "no watermelon".  My dining companion thought this got old, but, I really appreciated the constant reassurance.

Drinks

Little Donkey is known for both their food and their drinks.  They have an interesting cocktail program.  Note that I don't say a sophisticated cocktail program, but, it surely is interesting.  And, uh, many are Instagram-worthy, starting with the one dubbed, "The One in a Grapefruit", with a menu description that simply reads "With stuff we really like....".  I knew this was a cocktail served, literally, in a grapefruit.  People *love* to take photos of this one, and it looked like every other table had one on it.  And I'm sure, this is how it works.  Someone sees it, says, "Oh, I'll have the one in the grapefruit", and, well, it spreads.  

Once we were seated and were offered water, I asked the person offering water what was in the grapefruit.  He looked like a deer in headlights, and said he didn't know, but he'd find out.  He quickly ran away, and can back, mumbling something about rum and Pacifico.  When I followed up asking about another cocktail listed on the menu without any details, a nightly special, he again scampered off.  It was then that I realized that he wasn't our server, and was just the water guy, and, I believe, fairly new.  Ooops.  He was the only service staff member who floundered all night.

Anyway, interesting cocktails, for sure.

Sparkling Water.

As I mentioned, immediately once we were seated, we were offered still or sparkling water by the water/bus boy.  We opted for sparkling, and were provided a jug of house sparkling water from which we could refill our glasses as we wished.  I really appreciated this, as I am a big sparkling water drinker, and servers can rarely keep up with my consumption.  I also appreciated complimentary house sparkling water.

Also notable is that as soon as we finished our bottle, and fresh one was brought out.  The dedicated water person staffing was very effective here.

K.O.'D. $15.

"Nightly flask cocktail, limited availability."

In the end, I selected the K.O.'D, described that night as a play on a negroni, and one of my server's favorites.

I did not realize that when it was listed as a "nightly flask cocktail" that that meant, literally, that I'd be served a cocktail in a flask.  Ridiculous and novelty item for sure, but, uh, it worked on me.  I had way too much fun casually sipping on my flask in polite company.

I was so distracted by the form factor that I didn't pay all that much attention to the cocktail.  It was fine, good enough, but I didn't note anything in particular, besides, uh, the flask.

Novelty item #1: Success.

Beachcomber (non-alcoholic). $6.

"Grapefruit, cinnamon, sage, cardamom grenadine."

My dining companion went for the single non-alcoholic option on the menu, the "Beachcomber".  It was served with a lot of ice, and a sage leaf for garnish.

He liked the first sip, got annoyed by how sweet it was after a second, and ended up diluting it with water from the table, and thinking it was better that way, but still not remarkable.

Food

Food Menus.

The menu at Little Donkey is broken into many, many categories: raw bar, charcuterie, hors d'oeuvres, pastas & grains, vegetables & salads, meat & fish, and, dessert.  Besides the extensive raw bar, each category has 5-7 choices.  I honestly don't know how to describe the menu.  There is no one single cuisine really reflected.  The choices are all over the place.  Like I said, chefs cooking what they wanna cook.  And it all sounded incredible.

Dishes are designed to be shared, and are small plates, although some categories (like the pastas, meat, and fish) are bigger portions than others.  We were advised to pick 2-3 per person.

We originally ordered 4 total, 2 from the raw bar, 2 from charcuterie, but it wasn't quite enough, so we added on a noodle dish, which was a bit too much.  Narrowing down our choices was really, really hard, and we skipped many categories entirely.

Categories we skipped were hors d'oeuvres, vegetables & salads, and meat & fish.  We didn't skip because things didn't sound good, only because we were only two people, and had to choose only a few items.  From the hors d'oeuvres, I really wanted the foie gras (seared, with green tomato jam) and the incredible looking bbq scallop.  From the vegetables & salads, I really wanted the white asparagus with bearnaise and the shaved artichokes salad with radishes, kohlrabi, and ginger miso dressing, but my dining companion just wasn't feeling the vegetables.  And finally, from the meat & fish, the burger sounded ridiculous (topped with buffalo pickles, onion soup mayo, seared foie gras, and jalapeno chips!), and the octopus a la plancha with charred onion vinaigrette was nearly impossible to pass up.  But we did.

Raw Bar

Little Donkey takes a lot of pride in the raw bar, which was its own menu selection, on the front of our menu board.  Options here included a few basics like a slew of oysters and clams, plus a bunch of raw preps of composed dishes like crudo (scallop or hamachi), ceviche (black bass or razor clam), tartare (tuna), poke (tuna), and big ticket favorites like uni (served in the shell, with chicharrons), stone crab claws, shrimp cocktail, and more.

We selected two items from the raw bar, the king crab (because I love it, and rarely get it) and a seafood we were unfamiliar with: percebes.  We weren't impressed with either, which was sad, as the raw bar is supposed to be a highlight here.

The raw bar items did arrive quickly after we ordered, literally, 2 minutes after our drinks.

Percebes / Old Bay Mayo. $19.

First up was the item neither of us had ever heard of.  Percebes.  Also known as "Goose Barnacles". They are a delicacy in Spain and Portugal.

We asked our server about the dish, and he described it as sorta cross between snow crab and surf clams.  Fascinating.  I was fairly certain I wouldn't love it, but it is rare for there to be something entirely new to me on a menu, and thus, I ceased the opportunity.  Plus, served with old bay mayo?  Yes!

When this dish hit our table, my dining companion exclaimed, "this doesn't even look like food".  He demanded that I try first.  The server who brought over the order did explain how to eat it, telling us not to crack the shells, and to just bite the meat off.

The percebes were steamed but served chilled, on a bowl of crushed ice.  They were still in their strange looking shells.  They came in different sizes, and were purpleish with orange tips.  I'll admit, these were scary looking, but, I dove in, undeterred.

And ... I was confused.  Somehow, I expected the flesh to pull out of the shell a bit easier.  Instead, I had to chew on it.  It had the texture of a clam, for sure.  Chewy.  The flavor ... that I couldn't pinpoint.  My dining companion thought they tasted like smoked salmon.  To me, it was more like crab I guess?  I don't know.  It was strange.  It wasn't particularly good, and I wasn't a fan of the texture.   Still, not offensive, not fishy, fun to try, interesting to eat from the shell, but ... why?  Maybe there is a reason these aren't often on menus.  We didn't finish them.

I did love the old bay mayo though, creamy, flavorful, and I wished it hadn't been cleared away, I would have gladly consumed it alongside our other items.

King Crab / Louis Dressing. $19.

Our second raw bar item was the king crab, which arrived a minute after the percebes.

The king crab had also been steamed, and was served in the shell, although cut into bite size chunks, and extremely easy to extract.  For a lazy version of king crab, this was nice.  No effort required here.

But the king crab was fairly unremarkable.  It wasn't fishy, it was fine, but, just kinda boring.  The portion seemed small for $19.  The louis dressing was creamy but not particularly flavorful, extremely mild.

We finished this dish, ok, I finished this dish, dipping it in more old bay mayo from the percebes, because I couldn't let king crab go to waste, but neither of us really were into it.

Charcuterie

The charcuterie section of the menu is not what you'd expect.  No, there are no sliced meats on it at all.  No pates.

Instead, the choices we had were a pizza bagel (obviously, a fancy one), "Vietnamese bologna" which was actually a fried squid prep with peanuts and chunks of the bologna, thai sausage, parker house rolls, and BLT lettuce wraps, the later two which we selected.  I *really* wanted to try the vietnamese bologna, as I adore bologna (don't judge!) and crispy calamari sounded great too, but, alas, we had to narrow down our choices, and it didn't make the cut.

Our share plates (and my dining companion's cutlery) were cleared out between the raw bar and our next courses by a fairly awkward water guy, who brought replacements.  He struggled the entire night with inconsistent things like taking one person's silverware and not the other, bringing new napkins when we still had some, clearing plates before we were done, etc.  Clearly, new, and not reflected of the other staff members who were all extremely knowledgable and on top of things.

Parker House Rolls. $8.

"Yellow chives & Chinese sausage."

The Parker House rolls were probably the second reason I selected Little Donkey, besides the dessert.  I really, really adore Parker House rolls (which I did actually have at the Parker House at a wedding once, and I've had at Haven in Oakland, at The Village Pub, and even at Alexander's), and I knew they served an interesting version here.  These were the best I've had.

They get rave reviews online, so these were the only item, besides dessert, that I demanded we get.  I'm glad I did.

I took one bite of my roll, and my eyes rolled to the back of my head, I'm sure.  Its funny, I'm not really a bread eater (as in, I don't go for sandwiches, buns with my burgers, etc), but sometimes, wow, I just love bread.  And this was one of those times.

The rolls were hot, served fresh out of the oven.  Perfectly golden brown, slightly crispy on the side edges, soft, sweet, and fluffy inside.  I loved the sweet flavor and the texture.  The tops were incredible, super crispy, glazed, buttery, and covered in huge flakes of salt.  The salt just pushed these over the top.

The sausage however was the downside.  Under the top layer, baked in, was a thin layer of ground sausage bits.  I didn't like the flavor at all.  I'm not sure where the yellow chives were.

My dining companion didn't really care for these, also because of the sausage.  He did say they reminded him a Japanese sweet rolls.

I wished these didn't have the sausage, but, even with the sausage, they were the highlight of the meal.  Incredible execution of the rolls.

BLT Lettuce Wraps. $12.

"Lamb bacon, pimento cheese, tomato jam, pickled red onion."

The second "charcuterie" item we selected was BLT lettuce wraps, which arrived about 5 minutes after our rolls, perfect pacing really, so I could savor my roll and not rush into this.

This was actually the most adventurous item we ordered for me.  Yes, even given the fact that I ordered a crazy mollusk in a shell, and a random drink from a flask.  Why was this such a leap?  I hate lamb.  I've tried so, so, so hard to like lamb.  I've tried it prepared many ways.  I've tried it in New Zealand, land of the lambs.  I've tried it at everyone's favorite places.  And I just can't stand it.  I hate the taste, and I loathe the smell.

But I thought, if I was ever going to like lamb, bacon form would be it.  Plus, this was a bit of a compromise order, I still really wanted vegetables, and my dining companion didn't, so I knew that even if I didn't love the bacon part, I could still make tasty lettuce wraps.  With pimento cheese.  And tomato jam.  Um, yes?

I had a pretty strong moment of fear when the table next to us ordered this, and I smelt the lamb immediately.  It smelt, like lamb.  It was repulsive.  Ours smelt just as bad.  Uh-oh.

But, I still tried it.

And ... the bacon wasn't awful.  Yes, it still tasted a bit like lamb.  But more mild than any other application I've had of it.  The bacon was coated in flavorful spices, and was a really awesome crispy yet chewy texture.  I tried a bite plain, and I put a chunk in a lettuce wrap, but I certainly didn't want more.

The other ingredients were an interesting assortment.  Fresh crispy large leaves of lettuce from which to make our wraps.  Very tart pickled red onion.  Flavorful tomato jam.  Creamy enough pimento cheese (although, not very flavorful).  And, although not listed on the menu, kewpie mayo.  I was thrilled to see they sourced kewpie mayo!

I did enjoy making the wraps, and much like drinking from the flask, I found the experience of eating this fun.  And the ingredients all combined together well, crispy, fresh, creamy, and quite flavorful.  Even leaving out the bacon (and the onions, they were too tart for me), I really enjoyed my little wraps, although, uh, I was essentially eating lettuce, mayo, and pimento cheese.  Not so healthy.  As I was dunking lettuce into the pot of mayo, I did observe that was a theme of the meal for me: dunking things in mayo and aioli.  3 of our 4 dishes involved pots of mayo.  Ooops?

I'm really glad I tried this dish, and enjoyed it more than I expected, even though I still don't like lamb.  My second favorite.

Pasta & Grains

We were still a bit hungry at this point, and wanted just one more thing.  I just wanted a little bit more, and advocated again for the veggie dishes, but, my dining companion had his eyes on other things, and since I had dictated most of our choices, and since I didn't really want much more, I had him make our final decision.  He picked an item from the pasta & grains section.

Our options here included matzo ball ramen (?!), kimchi fried rice, and halibut biryani, none of which really called out to me, plus gnocchi with english peas and morels in a cream sauce that did sound fantastic but he didn't want, and a signature dish, manti, which is a meat ravioli from Istanbul, that I did originally plan to get, until I found out it is filled with a mix of beef and lamb.  He selected the final option, chow fun noodles.

Wok Fried Chow Fun. $18.

"Rice noodles, tofu, asparagus, ramps, Calabrian chili, black beans."

Noodles are rarely the dish I'd pick, but, this did have some tasty veggies in the mix, and I was curoius about the black bean sauce, so I went along with the order, even though I didn't expect to eat much of it.

It was delivered piping hot, clearly fresh out of the wok.  I again appreciated this aspect of Little Donkey, just like our Parker House Rolls, it came out as soon as it was ready.

This wasn't really a pretty dish, nor one served with any specific pizzaz.  Just,  a big plate of noodles, with lots of stuff mixed in.  The veggies were all cooked well, and I picked out some asparagus, ramps, bean spouts, and onions, all with a tasty, salty bean sauce.  There were some fairly spicy bits of Calabrian chilis in the mix that I enjoyed, as well as cubes of tofu which I avoided.

Overall, it was well executed, hot and fresh, but just not for me.

Dessert

Little Donkey has a very unique dessert menu, with 6 items, but, I actually didn't even ask to see the menu.  I knew exactly what I wanted.  And it was the reason why we were there.  Ok, maybe not THE reason, but, a strong factor.  I'm a dessert-o-holic, and when I find a unique dessert, that can dictate my restaurant choice.  Don't judge.  I have my priorities.

For completeness, other options were "mango curd Ritz cracker sandwiches" (yeah, what?!), a decadent chocolate cremeux, sorbet of the day (yawn), "Strawberries & Cream" with matcha pound cake, and coconut profiteroles smothered in hot fudge that seemed to be headed out to nearly every table around us.

But my eyes were on only one item: the cookie dough.

Chocolate Chip Cookie Dough. $8.

"Milk espuma, cocoa nibs."

The cookie dough comes served on a beater.  Yes, on a beater.  Consider the whimsy from the cocktail program, serving drinks in flasks and grapefruits, and apply it to dessert, and that is what you have here.  A beater, absolutely loaded up with (egg-free) chocolate chip cookie dough, with a mound of milk espuma on the side, topped with cocoa nibs.

As I frequently say, I don't really like cookies.  But cookie dough is another thing entirely.  As is, well, anything left in a mixing bowl.  Or on a beater.  Or on a spatula.  I was (ok, still am), the girl who always sat in the kitchen as my mom was baking, and demanded that every utensil was passed my way for licking.  Only my mom never left me quite this much.  This had my name all over it, except that it was chocolate based, and I don't generally eat chocolate in the evenings.  But I made an exception for this.

I ordered this intending to share it with my fellow diner, but, he avoids chocolate in the evenings even more strictly than I do, and when he saw how much chocolate was involved, he tried one bite, and said he was full anyway.  This was a very, very large portion of cookie dough for a single person (as in, I read a bunch of reviews where people claim it is too much for two people, and to only order in a larger group), but, uh ... I finished it, save a few chocolate chips.

Because.  Soft cookie dough.  On a beater.   ZOMG.  It was too fun not to finish.

That said, it wasn't amazing.  The cookie dough was soft and sweet, but not really as buttery or inherently flavorful as I would have wanted.  It needed a touch of vanilla, a touch of salt, and ... more butter?  But still, soft, sweet, cookie dough.

It had way too many chocolate chips though.  Maybe I was more aware because I don't normally eat chocolate at night and was worried about this, but, the ratio was just off.  Too many chips.

The espuma was insane though.  It tasted ... like milk.  Fluffy milk.  I know that doesn't necessarily sound like it should be amazing, but, it was.  Milk isn't supposed to be a foam!  It wasn't like whipped cream, it was ... milk!  My fellow diner took as much espuma as possible while I was busy with the cookie dough, only leaving behind the part with the nibs.  He loved it.

The nibs were great, I love nibs, and love the crunch they add, but, again, I was worried about caffeine, so I somewhat wished they weren't there.

Overall, this was good, it was unique, it was playful, but it wasn't as amazing as I had hoped.  I devoured it, and literally gave myself a stomach ache, and still can't believe I finished it, mostly because it was just too damn fun to eat off the beater.  In public.  Even though people walking by the table looked at my funny.  Yes, I could have used a spoon to take it off the beater, but ... what fun is there in that?

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21 Choices, Pasadena

21 Choices is a froyo "chain" ... of only two stores, that I discovered in Pasadena, CA.

It is also the best froyo I've ever had.  And I've had a lot of froyo.

They make the frozen yogurt in house daily.  It is soft serve.  But not like any other you have had.  They have two different concepts, and both are amazing.  Trust me.

I must return.

Amazing Froyo Experience.

I experienced both sides of 21 Choices - a made to order Mix-In (a la Cold Stone) and a pre-made "Today's Choices".  Everything about the experience was incredible.

I was in Pasadena for 2 days only, and went to 21 Choices 3 times.  Yes, that means I went after both lunch and dinner one day.  Don't judge.  It was amazing.

Setting

21 Choices is found on a corner of Colorado Boulevard, right in Old Town, just a block away from other froyo places like Yogurtland, and a number of local ice cream shops.

But it is unique.

And the best.

Long Counter for Customizing!

The store layout is pretty simple: one long counter, behind which all the toppings and soft serve machine are located.  Menu boards span the walls above.

There are no tables for seating, not inside nor outside, but along the window there is a bench where you can sit.  The place gets *really* busy in the evenings, but I was there right when they opened, and had the place to myself the first time I went.

On all my visits, the staff were incredibly friendly, offering samples the moment you walk in.  They *want* you to sample.  They offer more and more.  "What else you wanna try?", they prompt, before you even ask.  Its incredible.

Even when the lines get longer, they offer up the samples to start.  They ask you to sample your creation as it is made.  Incredible service.

If you are in a rush and just want a quick item though, you can go straight to the Express lane, to get a simple yogurt, check out, and pay quickly.

Menu

So, yes, 21 Choices is a froyo shop.  But it isn't like any other froyo shop I've ever been to.  Not only is it not self-serve, pay-by-weight, etc, its more like Cold Stone, where they make it on a cold slab with your choice of mix-ins, but, it is soft serve yogurt.

Or, it isn't.  It can also just be incredible pre-made flavors of soft serve, with or without toppings.  Or milkshakes, etc.

Many, many choices, and the 21 Choices actually *only* refers to their 21 suggested mix-in versions.  That is in addition to the 8 flavors of the day, and once you add in the ability to create your own, etc, seriously, limitless choices.

Soft Serve

So, starting with the froyo bases.

Every day includes 3 staples, all made fresh throughout the day:

• French Vanilla (used by default for the base of most of the Mix-Ins, but, you can sub in any you want)
• Belgian Chocolate: "Made With 72% guittard Chocolate."
• Simply Yogurt: "Made with our plain tart cultured yogurt!"

You can get them in a cup or cone, Small for $4.25, Medium for $5.25, Large for $6.25.  

You can have multiple side by side if you want, or swirled if on the same machine. You can add any toppings too, for $0.75.

If there is a line, you can skip the main line, and go right to the cashier, to have this served up without a wait.

Of these, I tried only the French Vanilla, curious how it was on its own, before using it as a base for a  Mix-In.  It was my least favorite - actually a bit icy, not nearly as creamy as any others, and seemed most like, well, froyo (the others really were much more like ice cream). 

Daily Selection: Thursday.

And then, the other 5, which change completely every day.  Some are pre-made versions of the signature 21 Choices, but many are not.  As they told me, "it just depends what the chef wants to make each day!".  I adore that they 1) call them chefs and 2) let their staff have so much control.

The options always include at least one non-dairy option (sorbet or soy milk base) , and one no sugar added option.

The list the first time I stopped in was:

• (Non-Dairy) Baja Mango: "Made with fresh mangos, strawberries, and 7up!" 
• Oreo Cookie Magic "Made with oreos, (eggless) cookie dough, and rainbow sprinkles!"
• Salted Caramel Chip: "Made with sea salt, caramel, and guittard chocolate chips."
• Brownie Sundae: "Made with house baked coconut-walnut brownies & bananas!"
• (No Sugar Added) Stumptown Coffee: "Made with cold brew Stumptown Coffee!"

Of these, only the Oreo Cookie Magic was a repeat from their 21 Mix-In Versions (and of course, you could opt to have it freshly made that way if you prefer).

I tried two, and was blown away by the creaminess and consistency.  It was perfectly creamy, not distinguishable from ice cream.  How was this frozen yogurt?  How did they get the mix-ins so perfectly integrated, and served from a standard froyo machine without clogging it?  I've never seen anything like this before, and it was mind-blowing.

(Side note: check out the huge Nutella containers below!)

Daily Selection: Friday.

The next day, the options were *entirely* different:

• (Non Dairy) Strawberry Pineapple: "Made with fresh strawberries and pineapples."
• Junior Min't Chip: "Made Guittard chocolate chips and Junior Mints."
• Chocoholics Anonymous: "Made with house baked brownies, Guittard chocolate and Oreos."
• (Non Dairy) Peanut Butter Pretzels: "Made with natural peanut butter, organic soy milk, Guittard chocolate chips and pretzels."
• (No Sugar Added) Fresh Organic Banana: "Made with fresh organic bananas."

These were all originals, none from the 21 Choices menu.

I tried several, and again, was hooked.  I was happy *just* with the froyo, it was that good.  I didn't need toppings, not even sprinkles.  I didn't need to create my own thing.  I never expected that, but the creaminess and texture from mix-ins was just remarkable.

But still, there were many, many more options.

Toppings

Starting with the toppings, available on top the soft serve, or inside Mix-Ins.

Fruit: Strawberries, peaches, mango, pineapple. 

First up, fresh cut fruits.  This was just part of the lineup, there were blueberries, raspberries, and more in the next section.

I didn't try any fruit but it looked decently fresh.

House Made Cookie Dough.

Fruit not your style?  How about the other end of the spectrum: cookie dough!  Several varieties available, very large balls (which are chopped up when used in Mix-Ins, or just perched on top as a topping).

I think they had a non-dairy cookie dough too.

The cookie dough was a highlight for me, buttery, soft, delicious.

Baked Goods.

Giant globs of cookie dough not enough?  How about house made brownies (with or without nuts) or blueberry lemon pound cake.

Yes, those are Mix-Ins, not individual baked goods you can buy.  And yes, if you opt for a brownie or pound cake, you get the entire thing chopped up inside.  Crazypants.

Globes of Toppings.

And then, the globes.  Full of assorted toppings.

These ran the gamut of basically everything, your standard ice cream/froyo toppings of assorted nuts, cereals, candy, etc, and some more unique ones like the Lay's Potato Chips and pretzels.

More Toppings Globes.

These globes went on and on, on both sides of the ordering station.

Globe Close Up: Circus Animals.

Each globe had the easily accessible and visible items up top where the server would take from, but then down below in the tube was the stash of extra, which also showed you what brand they were.

Mix-Ins

So, yes, the more novel section of the menu is the Mix-Ins.  Made to order like Cold Stone, e.g. on a cold plate, with a base froyo, then toppings chopped up, and mixed in.

The 21 Choices of pre-defined Mix-Ins.

The menu board suggests their namesake 21 Choices, each of which sounds pretty amazing, and well crafted.

Of course, these are just 21 Choices that are suggested, you can make any custom creation you want, picking any base, any Mix-Ins.

Small is $6.50/Medium $7.50/Large $8.50, with additional mix-ins $0.75 no matter the size.  But the sizes are large, I've heard the large is actually a pint!

Crafting a Mix-In

Once you order a Mix-In, your server springs into action.

Froyo on the Slab.

First up, they serve some froyo from the machine, like normal, a swirl in a cup.  Then they dump it on the cold slab, and flatten it out.

Toppings Added.

Next, the toppings get added.

Here you can the generous pile of whole circus animals, a big ball of cookie dough, and rainbow sprinkles that went into my mini size.

All Mixed Up.

Chop, chop, chop, and, suddenly, a totally different creation!

As she finished, she got out a spoon, and handed me a spoonful, "Here, taste it, let me know if anything needs to be done differently".  I wasn't expecting this, but they did it for every guest.  I did see one lady ask for more peanut butter, so, I guess it works!

Frozen Yogurt

So, after all that, what did I get?

I was having an incredibly hard time deciding.  I really, really liked the soft serve flavors direct from the machine that I tried.  But ... I felt like I *should* get a Mix-In.

I told my server which two things I had narrowed down to, and she said, "Why not just get both, as a side by side?"  Amazing.

So I got half a Mix-In (from their 21 Creations) and half just a pre-made one from the machine.  Charged as if it were all a Mix-In, which was fine with me.

I opted for the off-menu "Tres Small", which I knew existed from my research, even though not shown on the menu boards.  It was plenty big.

Junior Mint Chip & Circus Animal Cookie Mix-In, Tres Small.

Junior Min't Chip: "Made Guittard chocolate chips and Junior Mints."

The flavor I picked direct from the machine was the Junior Min't Chip.  It was really crazy good.

Soooo creamy and smooth, lovely mint flavor, amazing texture from the bits from the chips and chopped up Junior Mints.  Seriously, perhaps the best froyo I've ever had in my life, and certainly the best version of any mint choc chip of any kind.

Seriously amazing.  I do kinda wish I had just stuck with this, maybe with a topping.

But I also wanted to experience the Mix-In, so I went for the Circus Animal Cookie, drawn in by the cookie dough and sprinkles.  This section came topped with a full size Circus Animal Cookie as well.

Circus Animal Cookie: Close Up.

"Made with circus animal cookies, (eggless) cookie dough, and rainbow sprinkles."

I ... didn't love it though.

The base I think was much of the problem.  I thought it was kinda icy when I tried the sample, and it was no different once mixed.  Much more standard froyo.  Kinda icy, not smooth, vanilla.

But the real reason I didn't love it was it was just too sweet.  I loved the crunchy bits inside, from everything, the chopped up cookies, the sprinkles, and the cookie dough.  I adored the bits of cookie dough.  But ... it was just too sweet.

[ Other Flavors ]

Oreo Cookie Magic: "Made with oreos, (eggless) cookie dough, and rainbow sprinkles!" This was the first one I tried, and it was really quite good.  I was shocked, actually.  Creamy, chocolately, and the texture from the sprinkles was awesome.  This was one of the daily flavors, it came out of a machine this way, which I've just never seen with soft serve before, and honestly loved!

Salted Caramel Chip: "Made with sea salt, caramel, and guittard chocolate chips." The guy accidentally made a sample of this when he meant to do a different one for someone else, but it was another flavor I was interested in, so I said I'd take it (he was about to throw it out!).  It too was great, creamy, sweet, loved the texture from the mix-ins.

(No Sugar Added) Fresh Organic Banana: "Made with fresh organic bananas." I'm not really a big banana fan, but the server said it was her favorite, so, I tried it.  Eh.  It was ... banana.  Probably best used as a base, it reminded me a lot of just frozen banana made into banana soft serve (a thing I used to do when I was trying to be healthier ...)

(Non Dairy) Peanut Butter Pretzels: "Made with natural peanut butter, organic soy milk, Guittard chocolate chips and pretzels."  This was very, very rich.  Amazingly creamy, but the peanut butter made it a heavy choice.  I didn't really detect the pretzels nor the chocolate chips, which was too bad, as I was looking forward to both the salty pretzel element, and the chocolate/peanut butter combo.  I also didn't taste the soy.  Really, this was just very rich peanut butter ice cream to me, and I think would make an excellent base.

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Louie's Gen-Gen Room

I *still* haven't ever been able to get my act together to get a reservation for Lihiliho Yacht Club.  Every time I have a reason to go, I try to make a reservation, and it is fully booked.

The same has historically been true for Louie's Gen-Gen Room, the cocktail bar hiding in the basement.  Yes, even a couple weeks in advance, I haven't been able to get a reservation there either!

But when I had a visitor in town recently, I finally did, likely as we were going for an early dinner, on a Monday evening, only 3 of us.

70% of the Menu!

I really enjoyed more than half the dishes we ordered.  Some serious highlights.

I'll gladly return, and even more gladly, finally get in to Lihiliho!

Setting

Louie's Gen-Gen Room is located in the basement of Lihiliho Yaucht Club.  I can't quite define the style ... uh, modern island basement vibe?

Stairs Down ...

Finding Louie's Gen-Gen Room is not obvious.  There is no signage on the street.  No signage inside.  I checked in at the hostess stand for Lihiliho hesitantly, unsure of where I should be.

We were given instructions to walk through the whole restaurant, through to the back, and then down some stairs.

The stairwell was actually nice, it didn't feel like heading into a dingy basement.

Finally! A sign!

 And at the bottom, finally, a sign we were in the right place.

Bar.

I was shocked when I saw how tiny it was.

A small bar, 3 standing tables along the wall.

Standing Tables.

The standing tables were marble, facing into the brick walls.  Basement vibe, but a nice one.

I believe this area is for walk-ins.

Seating.

And then, the main seating.  The same white marble tables, but full (albeit small), rounds.  4 tables of 2, 3 tables of 4, although all made of small tables so I'm sure they can re-configure as needed.

This area did have a bit of an island vibe, turquoise benches, palm trees on the wallpaper.

All reservation based.  About half the tables while we were here were couples just having a drink and small snack before moving up to the restaurant, the other half, like us, were there to dine.

Bar & Kitchen.

The bar and kitchen are in the same small space, with half the area occupied by each, each with a single staff member working it.

The kitchen was a thing of wonder.  It featured ... yes, a toaster oven and waffle iron.  Which basically resembles my kitchen (I literally have half my stove burners covered up with butcher block cutting boards with my waffle iron on top ...), and, um, they have the same (amazing) toaster oven I do too!

Reflecting on the menu, I realized that everything truly could be prepared (ok, finished) in this space - all room temp or chilled items, items simply needing heating, or, waffles.

No wonder the menu appealed so much to me, this is my style of "cooking"!

Wine Cellar.

 En route to the bathroom is the wine cellar for both establishments.  Appropriately in a basement?

Unisex Bathroom.

A call out to the bathroom just because it is a true non-gendered restroom, two individual rooms with full size doors for the stalls, shared hand washing station.  The bright island colors continue here as well.

Drinks

As I described, half the kitchen/bar is, well, the bar.  So cocktails are a big part of the program, along with a decent spirit, and obviously wine, list.

Cocktail Menu.

Since the bar is such a focal point, I wanted to go for a cocktail. The menu had a bunch of great sounding options, interesting, diverse ingredients, particularly "island" ingredients like guava, mango, pineapple, and passionfruit.

One thing missing was decent non-alcoholic cocktails.  They could only make 2 drinks, both quite fruity.  The server, and the bartender, were not interested in doing anything different.

Young Coconut. $13.

"Novo fogo cachaca, falernum, coconut water, lime, green chartreuse."

For a cocktail, I went for something a bit different from my normal bourbon, scotch, or tequila choices.  I was ... uh, a bit hungover from an epic night before, and really wanted something lighter.

This was indeed what I was looking for.  Very refreshing, a touch sweet from the falernum, and then ... yup, chartreuse!  No mistaking that.

The right selection for me, for the night.

Food

The food is all share style, all sorta bar snacks, but all breaking the mold in some way. 

Food Menu.

The food menu is not extensive, and fits on a single page.  10 total savory, 2 sweet.

We skipped only three savory items: the one of the two poke dishes (ahi, but it has avocado which i'm allergic to), the actual avocado dish (their play on avocado toast but with crispy nori as a base, again, because of the avocado), and the kimchi-cheese dip (it has crab, which sounded good, but we were cheese'd out).
And ... shockingly for me, we skipped both sweets.  One was ruled out since it has caffeine (coffee milk and cocoa nibs) and the other was a cardamom and citrus cheesecake ... which just isn't really my thing.  I really wish we could have ordered dessert from upstairs though ... I've been drooling over that dessert menu!

Food came one dish at a time, generally quite fast, the chilled items faster than cooked.  It was easy to opt to add more as we wanted it.

Round 1

Since we weren't sure what portions would be like, we actually only started with 4 dishes, then added on 2 more, and then a final one.

First up was a room temp item, a chilled item, one toaster oven item, and one waffled item.  Full spectrum of the menu.

3 of my top 4 items were in this round, which somewhat makes sense, as I ordered according to what I wanted most.

Beef Jerky. $9.10.

"Imperial wagyu, 5 spice." 

We started with the beef jerky, which arrived faster than our cocktails even.  It is a room temp item and was just put on a plate, so no prep required, but I still shocked at the speed.

I've realized that I just don't like 5 spice.  Otherwise, this was fine jerky, decent chew to it, but I didn't care for the spicing.

My second to least favorite dish, but the others liked it (it was one diner's second favorite item), and it was a nice simple protein option.

Potato Chips. $13.

"French onion, egg, chives, smoked trout caviar."

Very quickly following came their version of chips and dip ... or their version of classic caviar service.  However you want to think of it.  Fusion time.  My fellow diners were a bit confused why I wanted to order the "potato chips", but I tried to explain it wasn't what they were thinking.

House made potato chips, with dip served in the caviar jar.  Cute touch.  As was the traditional mother of pearl spoon to scoop it onto the chips.

The chips were fine, fresh enough, crisp, not oily.

We opted for the smoked trout version, but this is also available with real caviar, if you prefer, for $48.36.  Both versions use Tsar Nicoulai.

Potato Chips: Side View.

Here you can see the composition of the dip: trout roe on the bottom, french onion creme fraiche, chopped egg, a sprinkle of chives.

The layers of the dip/spread worked really well.  Great smoke and saltiness from the roe, creaminess from the french onion creme fraiche, and lots of onion flavor.  Tasty, flavorful, quite good.

Top pick for one diner, my 4th pick, something I'd gladly have again, but don't feel compelled to "need" it.

Pigs In A Blanket. $9.88.

"Home made spam, pepperjack, dijonaise." 

A moment later ... yes, pigs in a blanket.  Hot, fresh, bubbling ... yup, fresh from the toaster oven!

Of course, these are not standard pigs in a blanket.  They had house made spam in place of the hot dog.  The puff pastry was sprinkled with furikake.  They had ... cheese.  Oozing out.  Oh yes.

There were two items I was very excited for, on my "must have" list, and this was one of them.

They were very good.

The pastry was buttery and slightly crisp, and as someone who adores furikake (I sprinkle this stuff on everything!  Seriously, try adding it to your Caesar salad in particular, life changing), I was thrilled to see it there.

The spam was a great improvement on a hot dog, much better flavor, good firm texture.

The cheese was pepperjack, which I'd never normally pick (I'm team "Meh" on jack cheese in general), but it did work here, and melted beautifully.  It also provided a tiny bit of kick.

The only thing I didn't quite like was the dijonaise, which is a bit funny, as I love my mayo/aiolis, I love dipping sauces.  But here it kinda overwhelmed everything else, too much mayo flavor.  I preferred my pig without the dijonaise, but I actually think an island style ketchup would work better (Filipino banana ketchup I think would be great, or even a Hawaiian bbq sauce).

An order normally has only 2 pigs in a blanket, but our server asked if we would like 3.  The bill came with a normal order and an order of just 1, and I appreciated that they offered, and suggested, this.

My 3rd pick of the night, a very nice item, but not as unique as my top two choices.  I'd still gladly get them again.

Bone Marrow Butter Waffle. $13.78.

"Smoked sturgeon, avocado green goddess, fennel, everything spice." 
Given my .... obsession with waffles (or generally more specifically waffling leftovers), it should come as no surprise that the savory waffle was on my "Must Order" list (there is also a dessert waffle, and a waffle masquerading as a grilled cheese, keep reading for that!).  It came cut already into 4 portions, very easy to split.

So yes, a bone marrow butter waffle.  Entirely a savory item, no question.

The shaved fennel, pickled red onion, and everything spice on top ensured you were not tricked into thinking this was a dessert.  Strong flavors, yet fresh, and the fennel gave a touch of lightness to what was otherwise a very heavy dish.

Under the fennel was smoked sturgeon, a chunk on each quadrant.  Slightly smoky, firm, fish.  Not particularly remarkable, and I'm still not entirely sold on it being the right thing to be there, but, hey, protein?

Under that was two layers of sauces.  The entire thing was spread with a creamy white substance that I was confused by at first.  What was it?  It turned out to be bone marrow butter.  Lots of rich, decadent bone marrow butter.  It was great.  Drizzled on top of that was the green goddess, which I attempted to avoid but failed, since I'm allergic to avocado (not *horribly* allergic, but, one quadrant's worth of drizzle was about as much as I should ever have).

And then, the perfectly crispy waffle.  I'm not sure exactly what the batter is, as I really thought I tasted something almost corn meal like.  Slight grit, slight interesting flavor and texture.

Put it all together, and you get a very rich, very fascinating, savory waffle.  Creamy, crispy, decadent, great (if only it had no avocado!).

This was wonderful, but only my second pick of the night.  I'd gladly have it again though.

Round 2

Since we needed more, we added on at this point.  No one had strong preferences on what to order, so I asked our server if she had any must-haves.  She suggested one of the pokes, so we went for one of those, thinking a lighter option would be a nice balance after the cheesy pigs in a blanket and the very decadent bone marrow waffle.

And ... uh, we ordered the grilled cheese.  Forget what I said about balance.  And, correction: *I* ordered the grilled cheese, the others were leaning more towards beef tartar, cheesy crab dip, etc.  Who orders grilled cheese anyway?  Answer: me, and I'm glad we did.

Hamachi Poke. $14.82.

"Spicy mayo, black sesame, octo puff."

I've been kinda sick of raw fish recently, so I actually skipped this one, especially as I was filling up and had my eyes on the grilled cheese.

Presentation wise though it was nice, served in crispy puff cups, and garnished with black sesame, sliced radish, and a dot of spicy mayo.

The other two diners seemed to like it, opting to split the 3rd portion so they could both have more.

Grilled Cheese. $11.96.

"Taleggio, black truffles, honey butter."

And then ... the grilled cheese.  Also cut into 4 chunks already for us, like the other waffle.

Yes, that is a grilled cheese.  Yes, it is a waffle.  This restaurant speaks my language, like I said.  Why else would I order a grilled cheese?  I knew what this would be, even if the others were a bit skeptical why I kept insisting we get the grilled cheese.

It was made with bread, not waffle dough.  Perfectly crispy.  Topped with shaved black truffle and finely shaved taleggio.  The truffle, while not overly generous, was detectable throughout.

And inside?  Ooey, gooey, perfectly hot, stringy in a fun way, perfectly melted cheese.  Glorious, glorious cheese.  And honey butter, which I assume was also spread on the outside, giving it the extra crispy exterior.

It was sweet from the honey.  It was salty from the taleggio.  It was savory from the bread, the truffle, and the cheese.  It was hot. It was crisp.  It was gooey.  It was ... insanely decadent.  So much cheese, so much honey butter, so much goodness.

I really adored this, the flavors and textures worked well together, and it was clearly a dish they have perfected.  Execution-wise?  #nailedIt  My favorite dish of the night, and I'd return just for that any time.

Round 3

At this point, we wanted just one more thing.

Normally, I'm all about desserts.  But ... since we couldn't have the dessert waffle (caffeine in the coffee milk caramel and cocoa nibs) and the cheesecake wasn't appealing to me (cardamom and citrus), we had to do something else.   I tried (unsuccessfully, but I figured it was worth asking!) to order a dessert from upstairs, but alas, nope.

And honestly, I was pretty satisfied with the other two waffles as quasi dessert items anyway.  The bone marrow waffle was actually entirely savory, but the honey in the grilled cheese gave it a slight dessert feel, probably not enough for me to normally feel like my dessert sweet tooth was satisfied, but, I had been at a gala the night before with literally ... 30? 40? 50? dessert bites, and let's just say I may have over indulged.  And I may have had some more waiting for me at home.

So, we got a final savory item, the one the others wanted the most.

Beef Tartare. $14.82.

"Cashews, toasted coconut, crispy vermicelli, fish sauce - lime dressing."

I'm not generally one for tartare, but like I said, I was pretty satisfied.  Plus, the nuts and coconut sounded unique, and I do love fish sauce.

We were instructed very clearly to give this a big stir.  Which was quite necessary, as the top was all vermicelli noodles, and the beef was hiding under it all.

I didn't care for this.  There was far more vermicelli than beef, which came as tiny cubes.  It was like a crispy noodle salad with some cubes of raw beef as a garnish, rather than a beef forward dish.  And the noodles got soggy nearly immediately.

One other diner also didn't care for it, "Wow, I really didn't like that", was all he said, and didn't take a second bite, but the other happily just ate it all.

Least favorite dish for two of us, and the only one I'd say was actually unsuccessful.

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